JENNIE by ALICE CARY

NOW tell me all my fate, Jennie, --
Why need I plainer speak?
For you see my foolish heart has bled
Its secret in my cheek!

You must not leave me thus, Jennie, --
You will not, when you know,
It is my life you're treading on
At every step you go.

Ah, should you smile as now, Jennie,
When the wintry weather blows,
The daisy, waking out of sleep,
Would come up through the snows.

Shall our house be on the hill, Jennie,
Where the sumach hedges grow?
You must kiss me, darling, if it's yes,
And kiss me if it's no.

It shall be very fine -- the door
With bean-vines overrun,
And th' window toward the harvestfield
Where first our love begun.

What marvel that I could not mow
When you came to rake the hay,
For I cannot speak your name, Jennie,
If I've nothing else to say.

Nor is it strange that when I saw
Your sweet face in a frown,
I hung my scythe in the apple-tree,
And thought the sun was down.

For when you sung the tune that ends
With such a golden ring,
The lark was made ashamed, and sat
With her head beneath her wing.

You need not try to speak, Jennie,
You blush and tremble so,
But kiss me, darling, if it's yes,
And kiss me if it's no!

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

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